Minutes for HB2093 - Committee on Judiciary

Short Title

Allowing certain juvenile adjudications to decay from criminal history.

Minutes Content for Tue, Mar 14, 2017

Jason Thompson gave a brief saying that the original bill had only a few small technical amendments. He went on to say that the bill provides for juvenile adjudications to not be counted and scored in criminal history in certain circumstances.

Proponent:

Scott Schultz gave testimony in support (Attachment 1) of HB 2093 saying the bill complements the existing decay policy, known as the 'gap policy', and is one that requires the offender to achieve a crime-free lifestyle for a predetermined period of time. He concluded by saying that this bill is primarily focused on two ideas: 1.) Offender culpability, and 2.) Recognizing the value of crime-free periods, which the Commission recognizes as a value when tempering the punishment of a current offense by recognizing the crime-free period.

Questions about the actual incentive for juvenile offenders to stay out of trouble was addressed. Chairman Wilborn then referred the committee to Jennifer Roth's proponent, written testimony (Attachment 2), and moved on to the next order of business.

Opponent:

Kim Parker shared her opposition (Attachment 3) to HB 2093 saying that she would like to propose different language that would provide a greater incentive for individuals who have juvenile adjudications to remain crime free while keeping with the Kansas Sentencing Guidelines. She went on to point out that section 4 creates an inequity by giving those who have re-offended multiple times the same benefit as those who have been law abiding because of age. She went on to section 5 saying that the new section comes with shorter passage of time before an offender can benefit of the decay, and therefore would like to at least require the passage of seven years or more before the decay is implemented. Ms. Parker offered several other suggestions to the bill, and concluded by reminding the Committee that juvenile offenses can be expunged under the current expungement statute, and it allows the ability to hold repeat offenders accountable through their criminal history.

After a brief discussion, the Chairman pointed out the written, opposing position (Attachment 4) of Bree Gibson, and asked the Committee to review her proposed amendments. Seeing no further questions, the Chairman closed the hearing.